Set an Interview Time Limit

I’ve blogged in the past about sales candidates who have a propensity to be verbose and why you may want to avoid them (huge timewasters). Whenever I’m tasked to do an interview with someone who our Sales Temperament Assessment has flagged as being over-social, I use the following technique to see if the person has…

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Root Causes of Conflicts In Work-Groups

Studies have shown that over 85% of the root causes of organizational performance problems are in the structures, systems, and culture within which work-groups are embedded. Structures and systems are either consciously defined with purpose and intent around a strategic direction as an Intended Culture, or they emerge naturally from the patterns-of-interaction of the personalities…

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The Last Sales Interview Question

You’re hiring salespeople, right? So, at a minimum, the sales candidate should know how to sell himself. That’s why, when you’ve completed all the rest of the interview and testing process, you should ask what I call the last question, “Why should we hire you?” This gives the salesperson one last opportunity to sell himself…

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People Just Want to be Noticed…and Appreciated

I came across a quote from Oprah Winfrey, interviewed in the Dec. 26/10 issue of Parade : Everybody just wants to be heard…Do your eyes light up when I enter the room? Did you hear me and did what I say mean anything to you? That’s all they’re looking for. That’s what everybody is looking…

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Four Ways of Working as Generic Cultural Norms

Michael Hammer states that, “Most companies today – no matter what business they are in, how technologically sophisticated their product or service, or what their national origin – can trace their work styles and organizational roots back to the prototypical pin factory that Adam Smith described in The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776.” This…

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No Choice: You Have to Take Your Own Path

The late great expert on mythology, Joseph Campbell, used to tell a tale from the days of King Arthur. One day during a feast, the Holy Grail appears high in the great room but draped in a veil. Then it disappears. The bold Sir Gawain proposes that the knights all go off to find the…

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The "Hi Good-Looking" Trap

According to an article in the Harvard Business review, 33% of all hiring decisions are decided on appearance alone. This is great for people who use this technique as all they need is a photo or video of the candidate to make their decision on.

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Hire Sales Skills Over Industry Experience

This hiring tip may seem counter intuitive but it has a lot of merit. Many companies still choose industry experience over sales skills because of the potentially faster ramp-up time and potential business that an industry-seasoned candidate brings to the table. While this is a reasonable assumption, you may be passing up the opportunity to…

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Your Group Doesn’t Have to Be a “Team”

One of the best books written on teams and teamwork is The Wisdom of Teams by Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith. They make the distinction between a “team” and what they call a “working group.” The latter is the most common form in workplaces today: a VP with a group of managers, each in charge…

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It’s Scary How Easily We Slip into Judging Mode

A number of years ago my wife and I attended a workshop on how to facilitate dialogue. The session was led by our colleagues Will Stockton and Marjorie Herdes of Mobius, Inc. They do tremendous work, especially facilitating large group and community dialogue sessions, using a “roadmap” they’ve evolved over the years which they call…

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How to Find Out If They Can Sell

No sales candidate is going to tell you that he doesn’t know how to sell, even when he doesn’t know how. That’s because he thinks he does know. So it’s up to you to figure out if he really does. I know that it sounds a bit corny to ask a sales candidate to sell…

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Has Your Organization Reached an Impasse?

Is your organization unable to change in the face of forces and threats from the business environment? Are you struggling against overly complex systems that frustrate and undermine your attempts to create positive change? Is your organization activity focused, rather than outcome focused? Does vital business information get filtered, altered, or stopped as it moves…

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Choose Stewardship Over Entitlement

Most of us have had the experience, at least once in our career, of working for a boss who loved his/her role because it was all about: I’m special (after all, they made me the boss) I deserve extra respect (because I’m special, of course) I have real power (try opposing me and you’ll feel…

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